


When I Was Alive

by SyntheticDNA



Category: Original Work
Genre: Afterlife, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Love Confessions, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25332028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyntheticDNA/pseuds/SyntheticDNA
Summary: Hayes and Piper have been friends for months, and this is the first time Hayes ever decided to share some more personal details about his past. Piper gets a grand award for listening, but not without the typical antagonistic bantering.
Relationships: Piper Nicholas/Hayes Billsnex
Kudos: 3





	When I Was Alive

**Author's Note:**

> This is an original work of mine with some of my characters I created! They have an interesting relationship to say the least! This was based off the prompt ‘A love song at dawn.’ I hope you like it!

Nostalgia wasn’t a foreign feeling to Hayes. It seemed to wash over him on days he least expected, and he wasn’t exactly sure if he was thankful for the reminder, or angry that his feelings often took over on those days. As a spirit, technically, as he lived longer it was thought that he would forget his past slowly overtime. But Hayes deep down, cared. A lot. So he remembered small details of himself and what he wanted to give to others. In this instance, there was a love song he wrote for a special lady in his life before he died. Sure, he was living and breathing again in his restored body, thanks to the spirit flute Piper possessed, but he wasn’t actually alive. It was just appearances and the fear of Piper getting angry enough to break those ties plagued his mind every once and a while, despite how close they had gotten from his antagonistic ruse he put on to see if she’d prove him wrong. Fortunately for Hayes, he gained a friend out of it and a way to be alive again, but regardless he knew it wasn’t exactly real despite Piper letting him do what he desired.

They had been traveling recently, finding some mysterious magical workings a few towns over that they could hopefully get to the bottom of. They took residency in a nice hotel room with a balcony, finding that he had woken up early from a dream filled with old memories. He sighed as he got up from the bed, pushing the covers aside and he made his way to the balcony to watch the sunrise. His heart swelled at the sight, remembering that him and his old sweetheart would get up on mornings they spent the night with each other just to watch the sun rise. The ginger leaned up against the railing, feeling the cold metal along his arms contrasting the blooming rays coming from the sun.

His lips upturned into a sad smile as he decided to take in a deep breath. He didn’t consider himself much of a singer, definitely not anymore, but he hummed a little to warm up his vocal cords. He dug the depths of his memory for the song he remembered composing, now years ago. Hayes eventually caught the tune and allowed himself to sing warmly, his voice gentle but full.

“I didn’t know you were much of a singer.” He heard a familiar voice from behind him, sleepy. She probably just woke up. Hayes stoped singing and turned to see Piper all cozied up in her blankets and he gestured for her to join him. She slinked over to him and laid her arms on the railing, purely so she could rest her head on them.

“Well, are you one?” She asked legitimately this time and Hayes couldn’t help but chuckle a little, shaking his head. “No, absolutely not.” He responded, staring out to watch the pinks and yellows of the clouds dissolve into white as the sun continued to rise. Piper seemed to nod her head and then sigh softly.

“Regardless, your voice is beautiful. Where did you learn how to sing like that? And what was that song? It was really nice. It could lull me to sleep again.” She chuckled a little and stared out with him. They didn’t have to maintain eye contact to know that they other was listening. Piper could tell something was going on with Hayes and Hayes knew Piper enough that he knew damn well that she would listen.

Hayes let a sad smile play at his lips, his eyes following suit. His shoulders fell and he placed his chin to his arms on the railing. “I taught myself. And that was a song I wrote. It’s something I would’ve sung to my future wife if I was still alive.” He said softly, almost like he didn’t notice he was saying anything. And it caught Piper by surprise to see him opening up like this, so she took advantage of it while she could. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, usually knowing that he wasn’t huge on touch. This time though? He was receptive.

“I’m sorry that you weren’t able to sing it for her. That’s very sweet of you to do Hayes, really. Any girl would be lucky to hear something like that.” She reassured as best as she could without knowing the feeling of truly being dead. Regardless, she got a nod from the ginger and he glanced over at her. “I appreciate the kind words. I do,” he started, “but I’m afraid that it’s gone to waste.” He let his features drop into a thin line, void of emotion now as he continued. This caused Piper to lift her head up and move her arm so it could weave its way through Hayes and find his hand to take. She gave it a squeeze and he glanced at her like a lost puppy.

Piper gave him a warm smile, Hayes finding comfort in it. Enough to get him to relax again. “Sing it for me then.” She spoke and Hayes seemed visibly surprised. But before he could respond, Piper flushed and suddenly placed both her hands on her cheeks moving the hand that was with Hayes away. “O-Only if you want to! I know it must be quite personal and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable at all, that’s the last thing I want to do and-“

She was cut off by him turning his body towards her and taking both her hands in his and gently kissing one of them. Her face seemed to match the red on Hayes’ shirt right now, a deep red covering her cheeks. “I think you’re the only one I could sing it to.” Hayes said honestly. “But don’t let that go to your head, four eyes.” He teased and that caused Piper to deadpan before rolling her eyes. “You know suddenly maybe I don’t want to listen-“

“No wait- please actually.” He frantically said and looked into her emerald hues. “You’re special to me and you’re the only other person it holds meaning to.” He shifted his eyes to the sun for a moment and Piper gave him a confused look but shook her head. “You’re forgiven then. For the nice compliment.” She said passively and Hayes tsked before letting go of her hands. He took in a deep breath and allowed himself to sing the song for her to listen to as the sun rose.

Her facial expression softened and turned into a small smile as she listened to him sing. The lyrics were beautifully written, passion clear behind the flow of words and the matching notes. She shut her eyes and listened to his warm tone and the fluttering vibrato. She couldn’t help but wonder what he meant when he said that she was the only other one he’d allowed to listen but she didn’t allow her mind to travel all that far.

Hayes eventually stopped and he seemed a lot calmer, and more himself. “You know I realized something.” He said soon after he was finished, which caused Piper to let her eyes flutter open and make their way towards Hayes. “You’re really important to me. In more ways than one.” He said.

“You’re just now realizing that?”

“Okay- I take it back then. You’re the worst thing that’s happened to me and I absolutely despise you.” He quipped back pretty fast and it caused Piper to pout.

“You don’t mean thaaaaat!” She puffed out her cheeks and he rolled his eyes.

“I was going to say something more but you ruined it with that.” He poked her cheeks so they would deflate and she let her lower lip fall. “C’monnnn. I actually want to hear it. I’ll be serious.” She said to him more seriously now, stopping the whining. He seemed to look at her, up and down as if he was determining if she was worthy.

Then he sighed and placed a hand on her cheek before gently pecking her lips, pulling back to look at her. “That’s the something more okay? You’ve become my new beacon of light. And I thank you, as well as...” he struggled to say this last part. He bit his lip and glanced to the side before taking a deep breath and meeting her eyes again.

“I love you.” He finished and Piper’s eyes widened. She was in shock from the kiss, but this was a whole other ballpark. Her cheeks matched his shirt again and she leaped forward to hug him.

“I love you too Hayes.” She said into his chest as he let his arms wrap around her. He gently kissed her head and laid his head on top of hers as he stared off at the sunrise. They both took in the moment, feeling the rays against their skin. They stood their warm, their hearts full and the troubling thoughts at ease.


End file.
